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Lyft files for $100 million IPO

1:14 p.m. ET, March 1, 2019

Lyft names some surprising competitors, including ... Apple?!

Lyft listed a number of competitors in its filing.

Some of them were expected, like Uber, Gett and Via for the ride-sharing part of its business.
In the world of scooters and bikes it lists Lime, Bird and Uber-owned Jump as possible threats.

But its list of competitors for its autonomous cars that is a little more interesting:

There are also a number of companies developing autonomous vehicle technology that may compete with us in the future, including Alphabet (Waymo), Apple, Baidu, Uber and Zoox."
Interestingly, Alphabet is a Lyft shareholder.
1:05 p.m. ET, March 1, 2019

Lyft will pay some drivers $10,000 bonuses

Lyft will reward some of its top drivers with bonuses ahead of its IPO.

  • Drivers who have completed more than 10,000 rides will receive $1,000 in cash.
  • Drivers who have completed more than 20,000 rides will receive $10,000 in cash.

Lyft said the drivers can use the money to buy shares in the company -- but they're not obligated to.

1:05 p.m. ET, March 1, 2019

Here are Lyft's biggest shareholders

Besides its executives and board members, several well-known companies own a lot of Lyft's shares.

Here's some of them:

  • Rakuten (RKUNY), a Japanese tech company, owns 13%
  • General Motors (GM) owns 7.76%
  • Fidelity owns 7.71%
  • Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capitalist firm, owns 6.25%
  • Alphabet (GOOGL) owns 5.33%
1:39 p.m. ET, March 1, 2019

Lyft CEO Logan Green made $42 million in 2017

Lyft co-founder and CEO Logan Green would have been the 13th-highest paid CEO in the United States in 2017, according to compensation tracker Equilar.
He took home just under $42 million, including $288,654 in salary and $41.7 million in stock.
Green took home significantly less last year: $1.3 million, including nearly $1 million in personal security services and $1,787 in Lyft credits.
12:47 p.m. ET, March 1, 2019

Trader says Lyft IPO is beginning of a big year

Lyft's filing is just the start of a big year of IPOs.

That's according to Matthew Cheslock, equity trader at Virtu Financial. He told CNN's Richard Quest that he's optimistic that other companies will file this year if the market continues to stay strong.
"If the market keeps going where it's going and we see better headlines for second and third quarter, it will give a reason for a company to go public," Cheslock said. "This is probably just the start of it."

Bonus: Our Paul R. La Monica breaks down the IPO with Quest in the second half of this video.

12:38 p.m. ET, March 1, 2019

Lyft mentions 'scooters' 127 times in its filing

Electric scooters have been a particular area of focus for Lyft recently. In fact, the word "scooters" is mentioned 127 times in its S-1 filing.
In September, it launched a fleet of e-scooters in Denver. It offers scooters in four other American cities -- Los Angeles, Washington, D.C, Austin and San Diego.
Lyft, and its competitor Uber, see a lot of potential in scooters and bikes. CNN Business' Matt McFarland explained why in a September article:
The devices, which are popular with commuters, help reduce congestion and complement public transit. That could help offset mounting criticism -- backed by several studies -- that show ridesharing leads to more traffic as people shift from mass transit to cars. 

12:39 p.m. ET, March 1, 2019

Lyft's founders will control the company even though they only own a small part of it

Lyft will have a controversial dual-class stock structure. It's yet another tech company that will give its founders virtually permanent control.
Most stockholders' shares will receive one vote on shareholder resolutions and board elections. But Lyft's cofounders' shares will be worth 20 votes each.

The company says that will give its cofounders more control, giving them:

"... the ability to significantly influence the outcome of matters requiring stockholder approval, even if they own significantly less than a majority of the shares"
Google (GOOGL), Facebook (FB) and many other tech companies have similar voting structures. Critics say dual-class stocks give a small number of people too much control over the company. It takes away shareholders' ability to effect change in leadership.v
12:19 p.m. ET, March 1, 2019

Lyft says almost half of its riders drive less. Why? They use Lyft!

Lyft users are driving less because they, well, use Lyft. According to its filing:

In 2018, almost half of our riders reported that they use their cars less because of Lyft, and 22% reported that owning a car has become less important.
The company also disclosed that 52% of its customers use Lyft to commute to work, and 35% don't own or lease a car.
12:21 p.m. ET, March 1, 2019

Lyft's founder weighs in on its biggest rival

In a recent interview with CNN's Poppy Harlow, Lyft cofounder John Zimmer reflected on his company's biggest rival: Uber.
Harlow asked Zimmer during the latest episode of Boss Files whether there's anything he admires about Uber, which could reportedly be valued as high as $120 billion when it goes public later this year.
I think I'm going to say 'no,'" Zimmer said. "It would be hard for me to say anything but that."

He also said he wasn't worried about beating Uber to an IPO or vice versa.

"Of all the things that we've faced over the last six years, this is not something I'm concerned about," he said.

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